Berta didn't die---she multiplied!Hundreds of activists march on the DNC with the daughter of Berta Cáceres bearing masks of the slain Honduran Indigenous activist calling for an end to US Military Aid

Philadelphia--Several hundred grassroots organizers from across the country marched on the eve of the Democratic National Convention bearing a masks and a giant puppet of the Honduran Indigenous activist Berta Cáceres, and will do so again today on the DNC’s opening day. They are joined by Berta’s daughter, Laura Cáceres, and Rosalina Dominguez, a leader from COPINH (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras), who have traveled to the DNC as part of the It Takes Roots People’s Caravan. These actions are being led by Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, a multi-racial grassroots alliance of community organizations who also face environmental injustice and state violence.

We’ve been highlighting the assassination of Bertha Cáceres and the movement she created in Honduras, COPINH, in most of our actions. Their struggle for respect for their rights as Indigenous Peoples in defense of their lands and territories, and against hydroelectric dams and other unwanted and unsustainable ‘development’ is a struggle taking place all over the world. Over 136 Indigenous peoples have been killed worldwide just this past year in defense of their lands and way of life. Alberto Saldamando, Indigenous Environmental Network, It Takes Roots People’s Caravan delegate

The assassination of Berta Cáceres has become one of the most controversial issues of Secretary Clinton’s campaign because of her support of the military coup in 2009. Organizers on the caravan are calling on Secretary Clinton to take responsibility for the role of the US in supporting the military coup, and to take immediate action to end US military aid to Honduras. Among the DNC platform committee are House Representatives Keith Ellison (MN), Barbara Lee (CA) and Luis Gutierrez (IL) who are co-sponsors of the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act which calls for an end to US military aid and training to Honduras.

“The case of human rights abuses in Honduras is one of the most critical issues for Clinton to address. Both Clinton and her newly appointed running mate Tim Kaine are deeply aware of human rights abuses in Honduras and we are calling on them to support the bill put forward by Rep. Hank Johnson. As a woman of color involved in international movements for environmental and human rights, I don’t want to see any more lives taken simply for defending their land and communities.” - Helena Wong, World March of Women

Berta Cáceres, a Lenca woman, was one of the leading organizers for indigenous land rights in Honduras. Internationally recognized for her Human Rights work, Cáceres won the renowned Goldman Environmental Award in 2015 for her leadership in the campaign to stop one of Central America's biggest hydropower projects, the Agua Zarca cascade of four giant dams in the Gualcarque River basin. On March 2, 2016, Berta Cáceres's life was taken from her and those who loved her when armed gunmen stormed into her home and shot her.

“The racist violence that says that we, Indigenous people, Black people and all non-white people are incapable of thinking and dreaming of other forms of development or of self-determination of our lands was concentrated in the body of my mother on March 2nd. But also on March 2nd, an ancestor, a guide was born; a spirit who now guides us. Defending life, the rivers, and the planet… and defending ourselves and our lives is fighting for the life of all humanity.” Laura Cáceres, Pittsburgh, July 22, 2016

The murder of Berta Cáceres and the continued targeted harassment and assassinations of grassroots leaders in Honduras has put a spotlight on the critical role of US military aid to the repressive regime in Honduras. In the four years following the military coup of 2009 that ousted democratically elected President Manuel Zalaya, military, paramilitary and police forces killed over 100 social justice, indigenous and environmental justice activists in Honduras.

In her autobiography Hard Choices, Hilary Clinton admitted supporting the military ouster of democratically elected President Manuel Zalaya. In a passage from the original publication of the book, she writes, "In the subsequent days I spoke with my counterparts around the hemisphere, including Secretary [Patricia] Espinosa [in] Mexico. We strategized on a plan to restore order in Honduras and ensure that free and fair elections [could] be held quickly and legitimately, which would render the question of Zelaya moot.” Following the international attention to the murder of Berta Cáceres, Secretary Clinton has removed this section from the latest edition of her book.